Bhubaneswar, Dec. 6: Nodal officers will be appointed at police stations in urban and rural areas of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack to take care of problems faced by senior citizens.

Director general of police K.B. Singh made this announcement during an interface with the elderly people here today.

Singh told that despite manpower crunch, the state police were determined to look after the security of the senior citizens.

"A nodal officer would be there in each police station to look into the problems of the elderly people. The cops would also visit them to know about their grievances," said Singh.

Security of senior citizens has come to focus after the murder of a septuagenarian doc-tor couple in Sailashree Vihar on November 15. However, the police are yet to arrest anyone in this case.

Senior citizen cell, which has been functioning in five police stations in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar since 2012, had 180 senior citizens registered with it. The number increased to 470 in 2013.

"By April this year, the number of registered citizens has increased to 1,568. A police officer in the rank of additional deputy commissioner of police is in the charge of the cell," said police commissioner R.P. Sharma adding that the cops had been providing special logos for cars of senior citizens. More than 75,000 senior citizens live in Bhubaneswar.

President of Federation of Senior Citizens' Association of Odisha Krupasindhu Sahoo said the police should frequently call on senior citizens who lived alone.

"The responsibility of the cops towards them should not end only with registration. They should hold frequent meetings with them to know about their grievances," said Sahoo.

Cops advised the senior citizens to install closed circuit television cameras in their houses besides verifying the antecedents of domestic helps before engaging them.

"We are also planning to keep a database of the elderly residents that would help us to visit them frequently," said a police official.

Senior citizens demanded the police to introduce a mobile-based application for them. "Police have recently launched mobile based application, Mo Saathi, especially for women in distress. A similar kind of app for senior citizens can definitely benefit us," said Santosh Moharana, a senior citizen.